Mass Combat: Points and Paths
Home>Tabletop Games>System-Agnostic>Mass Combat System There are few battles where terrain is not important. In this ruleset, terrain is represented as Points. Each Point has the following traits: * Paths: The ways in which the Point connects to other Points. Each Path has both a distance and a movement type; units move along the Path at a speed determined by their Quickness, and can only move along Paths of the same movement type. ** Keep in mind that the Paths on a Point are Paths out of it. A unit cannot block Paths into its Point. ** If two Points have Paths of the same movement type linking to one another, they are adjacent for all units that have that movement type and that are not enemies of any unit blocking the Path. * Lines: The supply (and in some settings, command) lines that pass out of the Point. Each Line is associated with one Path. * Special: Some Points, such as mountain passes, objectives, or supply depots, have special abilities. These are described in this area. Specials In addition to the usual effect types, some Point Specials have Claim effects. A unit may take the Claim action to gain the benefit of these effects; the effect ends when the unit leaves the Point. Abundant There are a lot of usable resources here. Effect (Passive): Reduce the difficulty of checks to avoid becoming Out Of Supply by one category. Effect (Active): On a successful Logistics check at one difficulty grade higher than those to avoid becoming Out Of Supply, treat this Point as a Supply Depot for (iterations of Abundant) turns. Blocked: (Path X) Units are preventing movement through the Point. Effect (Passive): No unit may claim more than one Blocked Special at a time. If a claiming unit already claims another Blocked Special, it must first abandon all existing such claims. Effect (Claim): Enemy units cannot add moves to X unless they have an ally in the Point with higher Quantity than the claiming unit, or have higher Quantity themselves. This Special can only be claimed by units with X’s movement type or the Anti-(X's movement type) ability, and if these are somehow removed from the unit, it must immediately abandon the claim. Effect (If not claimed by any unit): Remove this Special. Bluff: (Side X)/(Unit or Special Y) You think there’s something else here. Bluff cannot be placed on a Point that does not have Fog Of War: (X), although it persists after Fog Of War is removed. Effect (Passive): X is told that this Point contains Y when removing Fog Of War from it. The existence of Bluff is not revealed. Effect (Passive): Each time a unit takes an action that would remove Fog Of War: (X) from this Point, it makes a Hard check using Discipline or another appropriate skill. If it succeeds, remove this Special. Cover: (Point X) The Point is protected. Effect (Claim): Any unit claiming Cover is immune to Attack or Decapitate actions made from X. Disable (Ability X) The Point prevents certain abilities. Effect (Passive): Units in the Point are treated as though they did not have X. Fog Of War: (Side X) You don’t know what’s in the Point. Use this Special only if you are using the Intelligence rules. Effect (Passive): All units and Specials in the Point, other than this one, are hidden from X. Effect (Passive): When units in the Point take their actions, X’s player is not notified. Fortification: (Number X) The Point has been prepared for easy defense. Effect (Claim): Any unit claiming a Fortification is at a (X) bonus against Attack, Decapitate, and Mop Up actions. Hazard: (Skill Rating X)/(Attribute Rating Y) The Point is naturally dangerous. Each Hazard should have a brief description of the Hazard’s type. Effect (Passive): At step 3-4 of each turn, all units in the Point that are not specifically protected from the hazard take an attack as though by a unit with a skill of X and a Quantity of Y. High Ground The Point is especially suited to long-distance attacks. Effect (Claim): Treat the Point’s own distances as zero for purposes of Crowd Control, Ranged Attack, and Snipe abilities. Immutable The Point cannot be changed, or any changes to it are quickly undone. Effect (Passive): Increase the difficulty of the Entrench and Raze actions in this Point by one step. Inaccessible The Point is impossible to enter. Effect (Passive): All Paths into the Point have their moves set to zero, and no unit can take the Move action to enter the Point. Effect (Passive): The Point cannot have any lines of supply. Indoor The Point is sheltered from harsh weather. Effect (Claim): Any Hazard or similar effect representing dangerous weather or atmospheric conditions does not affect the claiming unit. Effect (Passive): This Special can be claimed by any number of units at once. Other restrictions on the Claim action still apply. Narrow: (Number X) The Point is cramped, and only small units can maneuver well. Effect (Passive): Any unit in the Point with > X suffers the Choked Quandary. Objective Something important is here. Effect: The game master determines the effect, effect type, side, number, and any other information related to the Objective. Straight There is no room to maneuver. Effect (Passive): Units cannot take the Encircle action. Effect (Passive): Once one unit takes a Step 2-4 action on another, both units are considered engaged with one another for the rest of the turn or until one surrenders or is destroyed. Engaged units cannot target or be targeted by any unit other than the one with which they are engaged for purposes of Step 2-4 actions by units within the Point. Units in the Point roll opposed Tactics checks to determine the order of engagements; impossible actions are null and void as usual. (Side X) Supply Depot A mass of supplies delivered from elsewhere. Effect (Passive): All path out of the Point are treated as having a line of supply belonging to X. Effect (Claim): Any unit claiming a Supply Depot permanently changes the Depot’s side. When this happens, the former owner of the Depot must do a line trace from the Depot to an allied Depot or all formerly-allied lines of supply with a line trace to the Depot are replaced with lines belonging to its new owner. Visibility: (Number X)/(Number Y) Clear sight into other Points. Use this Special only if you are using the Intelligence rules. Effect (Passive): Units in the Point remove Fog Of War in all Points within X. Effect (Claim): Units with the Stealth ability that would potentially be exposed by a claiming unit roll Y extra dice. Apply this only once per Perception step, no matter how many units claim this Special.